THE PROBLEM OF JESUS. 



BY 

GEORGE DANA BOARDMAN. 



PHILADELPHIA: 
JNO. Y. HUBER CO, 
i 891. 



THE PROBLEM OF JESUS. 



GEORGE DANA BOARDMAN. 




PHILADELPHIA: 
JNO. Y. HUBER CO. 
1 891. 



Copyright, i8gx, 

EY 

GEORGE DANA BOARDMAN. 



PUBLISHERS' NOTE. 



" The Problem of Jesus " is the rich 
fruitage of a long-continued and pro- 
found study. The author, to use his 
own reverent expression, " offers it as 
his personal tribute to the Saviour." 
It is published in the hope that by a 
wide circulation it may accomplish a 
twofold purpose : namely, to attract 
many to the study of the wonderful 
personality of the Divine Man, and 
also to provide an income, which, be it 
small or great, the author has in ad- 
vance dedicated to the extension of 
the Redeemer's Kingdom. 

The Publishers. 

Philadelphia, June ist, 1891. 



THE PROBLEM OF JESUS. 



The Problem of Jesus is twofold. First: a philo- 
sophical—How will you account for him ? 
Secondly : a practical — What will you do with 
him ? 



®t)* |)l]i[o30pt]tcal problem : §om will gou 
aacmnt for Jfesus of JJajarett) ? 

Jesus of Nazareth is the most 
Remarkable Phenomenon in Human 
History. However much men may dif- 
fer about him in other respects, they all 
agree about him in this. Let us examine 
the matter somewhat closely. 

Jesus is a phenomenon in respect to his 
Personality. 

Glance for a moment at his mental struc- 
ture. There have been many men of genius 
in the world. But brilliant and great as 



6 



THE PROBLEM OF JESUS. 



these men were, they were more or less 
unbalanced. On the other hand, Jesus of 
Nazareth held his manifold diverse gifts in 
perfect poise. For example : — Jesus was in- 
tellectual, yet not cold ; contemplative, yet 
not abstracted ; acute, yet not sharp ; sub- 
tle, yet not tenuous ; swift, yet not heed- 
less ; scrutinizing, yet not morbid ; dis- 
criminating, yet not casuistical ; wise, yet 
not oracular ; aphoristic, yet not frigid ; 
explanatory, yet not rabbinic ; ingenious, 
yet not sophistical ; imaginative, yet not 
fanciful ; original, yet not pretentious ; met- 
aphorical, yet not nebulous ; didactic, yet 
not pedagogic ; positive, yet not dogmatic ; 
clear, yet not thin ; homely, yet not vulgar ; 
humorous, yet not hilarious ; piquant, yet 
not biting ; practical, yet not plodding ; 
constructive, yet not extravagant ; philo- 
sophical, yet not dialectical ; telescopic, yet 
not obscure ; microscopic, yet not finical ; 
profound, yet not abysmal ; broad, yet not 
vague ; lofty, yet not airy ; idealistic, yet 
not Quixotic ; — in brief, a transcendent 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEM. 7 



genius, yet not a transcendental prodigy. 
Jesus of Nazareth is time's intellectual 
phenomenon. 

Glance now at his moral character. 
There have been many noble characters 
in this world ; — glorious heroes, patriots, 
philanthropists, reformers, martyrs ; men 
and women before whose names Christen- 
dom bows, and bows justly. It is around 
such transcendent characters as these, tow- 
ering like mountains above the common 
plains of humanity, that the reverence of 
the ages loves to wrap the robe of a spot- 
less purity ; even as the virgin snow en- 
wraps the distant Alpine ranges. But as 
the actual attempt to climb those snowy 
heights discloses here and there huge 
gorges and beetling precipices ; so, alas, 
does a nearer inspection of these tran- 
scendent characters in human history dis- 
close many a defect and even deformity, 
which mars and sometimes even wholly 
hides the general beauty. Lincoln, Wash- 
ington, Cromwell, Luther, Alfred, Paul, 



8 THE PROBLEM OF JESUS. 

Cicero, Confucius, Socrates, David, Moses, 
Abraham, were far from faultless, even in 
he eyes of men. Only one character in 
all history has successfully endured all 
tests of keenest scrutiny. For eighteen 
hundred years, that character has been be- 
fore the world, occupying in sight of 
Christendom the most conspicuous niche 
in the Valhalla of the world's heroes. 
For eighteen hundred years, scholars, 
skilled in all arts of searching criticism, 
have scrutinized every detail of that char- 
acter, as the sculptor searches for signs of 
flaw in the marble block he proposes to 
chisel. And what is the result? After 
nearly two milleniums of fiery criticism, 
the character of Jesus of Nazareth still shines 
as earth's purest diamond. Even unbelief 
itself assigns to the Man of Nazareth the 
supreme post of honor among earth's heroes, 
crowning him King of the kingliest. 

"No mortal can with him compare 
Among the sons of men ; 
Fairer is he than all the fair 
That fill the heavenly train." 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEM. 9 



It is audacious to undertake a portrait- 
ure of this incomparable Character. But 
it is one of the elements in our problem ; 
and it must be essayed. Of course, only 
the swiftest outline can be endeavored. 
Jesus of Nazareth was faultless, without 
dulness ; patriotic, without partizanship ; 
courteous, without hollowness ; dignified, 
without stiffness ; delicate, without dainti- 
ness ; calm, without stolidity ; enthusiastic, 
without optimism ; guileless, without child- 
ishness ; frank, without effusiveness ; chiv- 
alrous, without rashness ; aggressive, with- 
out pugnacity ; conciliatory, without sy- 
cophancy ; prudent, without time-serving ; 
modest, without self-depreciation ; gracious, 
without condescension ; just, without seve- 
rity ; lenient, without laxity ; flexible, with- 
out vacillation ; conservative, without 
obstructiveness ; progressive, without pre- 
cipitance ; patient, without stoicism ; per- 
sistent, without perverseness ; imperative, 
without imperiousness ; decisive, without 
bluntness ; heroic, without coarseness ; self- 



10 THE PROBLEM OF JESUS. 



conscious, without self-conceit ; hopeful, 
without dreaminess ; sad, without gloom ; 
sympathetic, without connivance ; gene- 
rous, without prodigality ; frugal, without 
churlishness ; appreciative, without flattery ; 
stern, without censoriousness ; indignant, 
without bitterness ; forgiving, without fee- 
bleness ; sociable, without familiarity ; re- 
served, without moroseness ; self-denying, 
without asceticism ; unworldly, without 
unwisdom ; conscientious, without fanat- 
icism ; trustful, without improvidence ; di- 
versified, without contrariety ; — in a word, 
perfect, without unnaturalness. What- 
soever things are true, whatsoever things 
are honorable, whatsoever things are just, 
whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever 
things are lovely, whatsoever things are 
of good report — if there be any virtue 
and if there be any praise — all these are 
impersoned in the Nazarene ; all colors 
of all virtues, all hues of all graces, 
blending in his own pure whiteness, as 
though he himself were Eternal God's own 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEM. 11 

blessed Sunbeam. He is the universal 
Homo ; blending in himself all races, 
ages, sexes, temperaments. He is the es- 
sential Vir, from the hem of whose robe 
virtue is ever flowing. He himself real- 
izes Auguste Comte's majestic dream of the 
Apotheosis of Humanity. Recall the 
countless tributes paid to him, consciously 
and unconsciously, by memoirs, commen- 
taries, sermons, creeds, theologies, periodi- 
cals, poems, novels, paintings, structures, 
melodies, and especially by the endless 
variety of assaults. He is the arche- 
typal, ideal man ; the symbol and rep- 
resentative of perfected mankind ; the 
sum-total, so to speak, of an unfolded, 
full-filled humanity. In one profound 
Biblical phrase, he is " the Son of Man : ' ' 
— not a son of man ; not a son of men ; 
not the son of men ; but The Son of 
Man ; the representative and eremplar of 
humanity ; the Son of Humankind. Jesus 
of Nazareth is time's personal Phenom- 
enon. 



12 THE PROBLEM OF JESUS. 

Glance now at his personal claims. 
Listen to his own declarations — declara- 
tions intensely egoistic, bnt so natural and 
credible that w T e are neither startled nor 
offended by them. For example : ' * All 
that came before me (in place of me as 
teachers) are thieves and robbers ; " " He 
that loveth father or mother more than 
me is not worthy of me;" "No one 
cometh unto the Father, except through 
me ; " " / and my Father are one ; ' ' 
' ' Come unto me, all ye that labor and are 
heavy laden, and / will give you rest." 
'7 am the light of the world;" '7am 
the bread of life;" "/am the water of 
life ; n u I am the resurrection and the 
life ; ' ' " Before Abraham was, / am ' ' (not 
I was, but I am) ; ' ' Lo, I am (not I will 
be, but I am) with you alway, unto the 
end of the world ; " "/ am the Alpha (the 
source of all things) and I am the Omega ' ' 
(the goal of all things), etc. In brief, 
Jesus of Nazareth is time's phenomenal 
Personality. 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEM. 13 



Again, Jesus is a phenomenon in respect 
to his Religion. 

His religion is phenomenal, first, in re- 
spect to its purpose. That purpose was not 
to organize a sect, frame a ritual, found 
a theology, propagate a dynasty. But 
his purpose was to transfigure human 
character. Recall his doctrine of spiritu- 
ality, of worship, of purity, of forgiveness, 
of self-denial, of society, of blessedness, of 
morality ; in one word, of Character. 
Compare his Heaven — the heaven that he 
came to open to mankind — with the heaven 
of the Greek Elysium, the Moslem Para- 
dise, the Scandinavian Valhalla, the In- 
dian Hunting-ground, the Buddhistic Nir- 
vana. Their rock is not as our Rock, even 
our enemies themselves being judges. 

Again, the religion of Jesus is phenomenal 
in respect to its method. That method 
was not by sword, not by legislation, not 
by prodigy, not by shout, not by gold, not 
even by lore. That method was by teach- 
ing, by parable, by example, by witnessing. 



14 THE PROBLEM OF JESUS. 

Listen to his own testimony before Pon- 
tius Pilate: "To this end have I been 
born, and to this end am I come into the 
world, that I should bear witness unto the 
truth : every one that is of the truth 
heareth my voice ' ' In fine, Christianity 
is an absolutely phenomenal Religion. 

Once more: Jesus is a 'phenomenon in 
respect to his Influence. 

Observe first his personal influence over 
individuals. Out of untold millions who 
have felt, more or less directly, his sway, I 
can of course mention but a few ; and these 
only as typical examples. 

See first of all how he influenced his own 
contemporaries : for instance, his blessed 
mother, his forerunner, his apostles, his 
evangelists, his ministering women, Nico- 
demus of Jerusalem, the woman of Sama- 
ria, the centurion of Capernaum, Zaccheus 
of Jericho, the Greek proselytes, Joseph of 
Arimathea, Saul of Tarsus, as one born out 
of due time. See how he influenced even 
those who were not his followers ; as when 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEM. 15 



sacrilegious traders fled before him, or Ro- 
man soldiers fell prostrate at sight of 
him, or heathen Pilate tried to release him, 
or pagan centurion confessed his divinity, or 
remorseful Judas hung himself, or guilty 
Sanhedrin bribed Roman sentry. The very 
demons themselves felt his power and trem- 
bled. 

See how Jesus has been influencing men 
and women ever since. See, for example, 
how he influenced the men known as the 
fathers, apostolic and apologetic : for in- 
stance, Clement of Rome, Irenseus, Hippo- 
lytus, Tertullian, Ambrose. See how he 
has influenced missionaries : for instance, 
Paul the apostle of the Gentiles, Ulphilas 
the apostle of the Goths, Patrick the apostle 
of Ireland, Columba the apostle of Scotland, 
Augustine the apostle of England, Boniface 
the apostle of Germany, Ansgar the apostle 
of Scandinavia, Cyril 1 the apostle of Bohe- 
mia, Methodius the apostle of Moravia, 
Xavier the apostle of Japan, Eliot, the apos- 
tle of Massachusetts, Carey the apostle of 



15 THE PROBLEM OF JESUS. 

Hindustan, Judson the apostle of Burma, 
Morrison the apostle of China, Martyn the 
apostle of Persia, Smith the apostle of Syria, 
Goodell the apostle of Armenia, Moffat 
the apostle of Bechuana, Ellis the apostle 
of the South Sea Islands, Patteson the 
apostle of the New Hebrides, McAll the 
apostle of France. See how he has influ- 
enced preachers : for instance, Apollos the 
Alexandrian, Basil the Great, Gregory the 
Nazianzen, John the golden-mouthed, Tau- 
ler the mystic, Taylor the churchman, 
Baxter the non-conformist, Bunyan the 
dreamer, Massillon the orator, Whitefield 
the evangelist, Hall the eloquent, Schleier- 
macher the versatile, Mason the Ciceronian, 
Lacordaire the Dominican, Chalmers the 
reformer, Finney the revivalist, Robertson 
the broad, Beecher the humanitarian, 
Spurgeon the Calvinist, Moody the lay- 
preacher. See how he has influenced exe- 
getes: I will mention only the names of some 
of those who have commented on his words, 
his acts, or the writings of his personal 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEM. 17 

apostles : for instance, Origen the Greek, 
Jerome the Latin, Bengel the German, 
Reuss the Frenchman, Godet the Swiss, 
Iyightfoot the Anglican, Robinson the Ame- 
rican. See how he has influenced biogra- 
phers : I mean some of those who have writ- 
ten memoirs of him, for instance, Neander, 
Eange, Pressense, Ellicott, Andrews, Far- 
rar, Geikie, Young, Hanna, Beecher, Cros- 
by, Edersheim, Stalker ; even Strauss and 
Renan do him the homage of their elaborate 
doubts. See how he has influenced theolo- 
gians : for instance, Athanasius the sub- 
tile, Gregory the profound, Hilary the 
eloquent, Augustine the great, Anselm 
the scholastic, Bonaventure the seraphic, 
Aquinas the angelic, Calvin the masterly, 
Swedenborg the mystical, Edwards the 
philosophical, Schleiermacher the evangel- 
* ical-critical, Fuller the Baptist, Watson 
the Methodist, Dorner the Lutheran, 
Hodge the Presbyterian, Bushnell the 
Congregationalist. See how he has influ- 
enced reformers : for instance, Hildebrand 



18 THE PROBLEM OF JESUS. 



of Tuscany, Arnold of Brescia, Wycliff of 
England, Huss of Bohemia, Savonarola of 
Florence, Luther of Germany, Zwingle 
of Switzerland, Fare! of France, Knox of 
Scotland, Hooper the Puritan, Fox the 
Quaker, Wesley the Methodist, Dollinger 
the Old Catholic. See how he has influ- 
enced colonists : for instance, Robinson of 
Leyden, Bradford of Massachusetts, Wil- 
liams of Rhode Island, Bogardus of New 
York, Calvert of Maryland, Penn of Penn- 
sylvania, Oglethorpe of Georgia. See how 
he has influenced hymnists ; for instance, 
Anatolius the Greek, Ambrose the Latin, 
Prudentius the Spaniard, Adam the Yicto- 
rine, Bernard the Cistercian, Bernard the 
Benedictine, Thomas the Franciscan, Lu- 
ther the reformer, Gerhardt the Lutheran, 
Tersteegen the mystic, Watts the independ- 
ent, Stennett the Baptist, Wesley the 
Methodist, Cowper the Episcopalian, Mont- 
gomery the Moravian, Bowring the Unita- 
rian, Bonar the Presbyterian, Newman the 
Romanist, Palmer the Congregationalist ; 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEM. 19 

also such women hymnists as Ann Steele, 
Charlotte Elliott, Sarah Adams, Frances 
Havergal. See how he has influenced he- 
roes : for instance, Godfrey of Bouillon, 
Tancred of Sicily, Robert the Bruce, 
Bayard the Chevalier, Joan of Arc, Colum- 
bus of Genoa, Sidney of Penshurst, Have- 
lock of Lucknow, Brown of Harper's Fer- 
ry, Jackson, of Stonewall, Meade of 
Gettysburg, Farragut of New Orleans, 
Livingstone of Africa ; to say nothing 
of the countless heroes and heroines who 
have endured every trial for his sake in 
the home and in the shop. See how he has 
influenced philanthropists : for instance, 
Dorcas of Joppa, Vincent of Paul, Francke 
of Halle, Zinzendorf of Herrnhut, Howard 
of Hackney, Clarkson of Wisbeach, Oberlin 
of Strasburg, Fry of Norwich, Gallaudet 
of Hartford, Mueller of Bristol, Fliedner 
of Kaiserwerth, Nightingale of Scutari, 
Phillips of Boston, Shaftesbury of London, 
Brace of New York. See how he has influ- 
enced educators: for instance, Alcuin of 



20 THE PROBLEM OF JESUS. 



York, Groot of Deventer, Melancthon of 
Wittenberg, Pestalozzi of Zurich, Raikes 
of Gloucester, Arnold of Rugby, Wayland 
of Providence, Trumbull of Philadelphia ; 
to say nothing of the many Christian foun- 
ders of various kinds of institutes, or of the 
multitudes of Christian teachers in schools 
of all kinds, sacred and secular. See how 
he has influenced philosophers : for instance, 
Justin of Shechem, Bacon of Verulam, 
Descartes of Touraine, Berkeley of New- 
port, Pascal of Clermont, Leibnitz of 
Leipzig, Butler of Durham, Edwards of 
Princeton, Kant of Konigsberg, Coleridge 
of Highgate. See how he has influenced 
historians : for instance, Eusebius, Bede, 
Bossuet, Neander, Guizot, Bunsen, Milman, 
Montaiembert, Merivale, Stanley, SchafT. 
See how he has influenced poets: for in- 
stance, Dante, Tasso, Chaucer, Spencer, 
Herbert, Vaughan, Shakespeare, Milton, 
Young, Klopstock, Coleridge, Southey, 
Wordsworth, Keble, Faber, Longfellow, the 
Brownings, Tennyson, Lowell, Bickersteth, 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEM. 21 



Whittier. See how he has influenced 
artists : for instance, such painters as Cima- 
bue, Giotto, Angelico, Leonardo, Titian, 
Correggio, Michael-Angelo, Raphael, Do- 
menichino, Guido, Durer, Holbein, Muril- 
lo, Overbeck, Hunt, Millet, Dore, Rossetti; 
such sculptors as Ghiberti, Donatello, 
Leonardo, Michael-Angelo, Visscher, Cano- 
va, Thorwaldsen, Donndorf ; such archi- 
tects as the designers of the cathedrals of 
Amiens, Canterbury, Chartres, Cologne, 
Durham, Ely, Lincoln, Milan, Notre Dame 
of Paris, Rheims, Salisbury, St. Peter's of 
Rome, Strasburg, Westminster, Winchester ; 
such musicians as Ambrose, Gregory, Lu- 
ther, Tallis, Palestrina, Bach, Handel, 
Haydn, Mendelsohn, Spohr, Lowell, Greg- 
orex, Lind, Gounod, Dykes, Weber. See 
how he has influenced writers : they 
are as countless "as autumnal leaves 
that strew the brooks in Vallambrosa : ' ' 
let me mention but one name ; his 
genius shall represent them all — John Bun- 
yan. See how he has influenced states- 



22 THE PROBLEM OF JESUS. 



men : for instance, Alfred the Great, Co-- 
ligny the Huguenot, Murray the Regent, 
Hampden the Patriot, Cromwell the Pro- 
tector, William of Orange, Gustavus Adol- 
phus, Wilberforce the philanthropist, Lin- 
coln the martyr, Bright the orator, Glad- 
stone the grand. See how he has influenced 
lawyers: for instance, Grotius the theolo- 
gian, Selden the scholar, Hale the just, 
Marshall the jurist, Kent the Chancellor, 
Maine the historian, Selborne the hymnist, 
Whartor the erudite. See how he has in- 
fluenced merchants: for instance, Samuel 
Budgett, Nathaniel R. Cobb, the Law- 
rences, Peter Cooper, George Peabody, Wil- 
liam E. Dodge, Samuel Morley, John 
Welsh, George Williams, Robert Young, 
Charles Pratt. See how he has influ- 
enced physicians : for instance, Luke the 
beloved, William Harvey, Sir Thomas 
Browne, Herman Boerhaave, Thomas Syd- 
enham, David Hartley, Benjamin Rush, 
Joseph Hartshorne, John Abercrombie, 
Sir James Y. Simpson, D. Hayes Agnew. 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEM. 23 



See how he has influenced scientists: 
you say that the Academy is skepti- 
cal : let me then appeal both to num- 
ber and to weight ; for instance, Ba- 
con, Copernicus, Kepler, Napier, Des- 
cartes, Pascal, Newton, Barrow, Horrocks, 
Leibnitz, Buffon, the Herschells, Cuvier, 
Lavater, Swedenborg, Davy, Playfair, Silli- 
man, Milne-Edwards, Brewster, Buckland, 
Faraday, Agassiz, Henry, Carpenter, Guyot, 
Gray, Gould, Dana, Argyle, Peirce, Quat- 
refages, Mitchell, the Le Contes, Dawson, 
Houghton, Clerke-Maxwell, Mivart, Geikie, 
Wallace, Beale, Cooke, Whewell, Hill, 
Secchi, Thompson, Winchell, Young, 
McCook. See how he has influenced so- 
ciologists : for instance, More, St. Simon, 
Owen, Blanc, Maurice, Kingsley, Marx, 
Woolsey, George. True, some of these were 
far from being what we call " Christians ; " 
nevertheless, Jesus stood among them, and 
they knew him not. See how he has in- 
fluenced martyrs : for instance, Stephen of 
Jerusalem, Ignatius of Antioch, Poly carp 



24 THE PROBLEM OF JESUS. 



of Smyrna, Perpetua of Africa, Felicitas of 
Rome, Sebastian of Narbonne, Cyprian of 
Carthage, Alban of Vemlam, Pamphilus of 
Berytus, Tyndale of North Umbria Lati- 
mer of Worcester, Margaret of Wigtonshire, 
Rosalama of Madagascar, Gordon of Ero- 
manga, Hannington of South Africa ; to say 
nothing of the anonymous thousands who 
have fallen by organized persecutions in 
Italy, Germany, Spain, France, England ; 
or of the countless saints who have suffered 
practical martyrdom for Jesus' sake in daily 
life. See how he is personally influencing 
men and women to-day, converting and 
transfiguring into his own likeness Jews 
and Gentiles, Mongolians and Kelts, Iran- 
ians and Eskimos, Hottentots and Iroquois, 
patriarchs and infants, savages and sages, 
drunkards and harlots, blasphemers and 
felons. In short, the nearer any man ap- 
proaches Jesus of Nazareth, the loftier that 
man becomes. 

Observe now the general influence of 
Jesus over society. See how it is he him- 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEM. 25 



self who, in virtue of his own personality 
and character, is making the difference be- 
tween Christendom and heathendom ; that 
is, between Christ-domain and heathen-do- 
main. See how the spirit of Jesus Christ is 
permeating, like a healing elixir, the dis- 
ordered frame-work of society : opening its 
clogged veins, expelling its foul humors, 
touching its springs of health, restoring it 
to the image of God. See how under his 
influence, or the sense of his constraining 
love, Christian missionaries are giving to 
pagans the boons of liberty, industries, 
property, peace, temperance, chastity, edu- 
cation, amenities, morals, home. See how 
his influence is softening the barbarism of 
the world's legislations : abolishing its 
cruel slaveries, its private duels, its aggres- 
sive wars, its loose divorces, its filthy im- 
prisonments, its scaffold butcheries, its 
murderous dramshops, its secret seraglios. 
See how his influence is reconstructing so- 
ciety : founding missions, asylums, hos- 
pitals, orphanages, colleges, institutes for 



26 THE PROBLEM OF JESUS. 



body and mind and heart, transfiguring 
childhood, uplifting woman, rearing courts 
of arbitration, ennobling jurisprudence, es- 
tablishing and maintaining rights of labor, 
property, person, name, home, trade, con- 
science, manhood. See how the Nazarene 
has influenced chronology itself. Why do 
you not, O Christian, observe the Mosaic 
Sabbath by worshiping on Saturdays 
in the synagogue ? Because you believe 
that Jesus rose from the dead on Sunday, 
and you revere him so much that you take 
his resurrection-day as your Sabbath. How 
do you date your letters, O skeptic ? It 
may be that you have just written one. In 
dating it, why did you not reckon from the 
Greek Olympiad? from Rome's Founda- 
tion? from Mohammed's Flight? from 
Buddha's Birth? from Comte's Calendar? 
Why did you date it, December twenty- 
fifth, 1890? Because, according to the 
common chronology, Jesus of Bethlehem 
was born 1890 years ago ; this is why we 
say — Anno Domini — Year OF OUR L,ORD, 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEM 27 



1890. See how the Man of Nazareth has 
consecrated the commonest things : trans- 
figuring water into baptism, eating and 
drinking into holy communion, society 
into church, cross into brooch. In 
sum, see how the Lamb of Calvary is re- 
organizing human chaos, reversing human 
instincts, revolutionizing human tenden- 
cies, co-ordinating human faculties, trans- 
figuring human sensibilities, marshaling 
human powers, disclosing human potenti- 
alities, celestializing human character, up- 
rearing the temple of the New Humanity. 
Jesus the Christ is the universal Seminary, 
at which mankind is evermore learning. 
He is the contemporary of all ages ; the 
watershed of humanity, all yonder side of 
him flowing into oblivion, all this side of 
him flowing into immortality — Himself the 
" Lever to uplift the earth, 
And roll it in another course." 

And Jesus Christ was never so influen- 
tial as he is this very hour. In vain 
have the kings of the earth set themselves 



28 THE PROBLEM OF JESUS. 



in array, and the rnlers taken counsel to- 
gether against Jehovah and against his 
Anointed, saying, 

Let us break their bands asunder, 
And cast away their cords from us. 

Time has proved that Julian the apos- 
tate was no match for Matthew the 
publican ; Hume the philosopher, no 
match for Mark the evangelist ; Gibbon 
the historian, no match for Luke the 
physician ; Voltaire the scoffer, no match 
for John the exile ; Strauss the profes- 
sor, no match for Peter the fisherman ; 
Renan the scholar, no match for Paul 
the tentmaker ; Satan the destroyer, no 
match for Jesus the carpenter. Do you 
talk about a waning Christianity? As 
well talk about a waning Deity ! 

Thus Jesus' personality, Jesus' religion, 
Jesus' influence, is time's overshadowing 
Phenomenon. And so emerges our philo- 
sophical problem. 

How will you Account for Jesus 
of Nazareth? 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEM. 29 



It is a fair question to ask. A Pheno- 
menon so stupendous demands explanation. 
Among the axioms of reasoning are these: 
u From nothing, nothing comes ; Every 
effect must have a cause ; Every effect 
must have an adequate cause." Here is a 
colossal effect r What caused it ? It is, I 
repeat, a philosophical question. 

How will you account for the Personality 
of Jesus? Recall the age in which he 
lived — an age of Caesarean imperialism, 
selfishness, debauchery, brutality, atheism ; 
an age of Jewish traditionalism, hollow- 
ness, conceit, bigotry, sanctimoniousness. 
Yet, despite all this, Jesus of Nazareth is 
time's solitary perfect character — history's 
transcendent miracle. Instead of Christ's 
character having been the product of his age, 
it was an absolute anachronism. Instead of 
Christ's character having been an evolution, 
it was a cataclysm of graciousness, as 
though himself were a parentless Melchize- 
dek let down from above, without biograph- 
ical father or mother, without historic begin- 



30 THE PROBLEM OF JESUS. 



ning of days or prophetic end of time. 
How then will you account for this unique 
break in the law of heredity, this tremend- 
ous exception to the law of environ- 
ment ? How happens it that Jerusalem 
with her Temple, Egypt with her Helio- 
polis, Athens with her Academy, Rome 
with her Forum, France with her Sor- 
bonne, Germany with her Heidelberg, 
England with her Oxford, America with 
her Cambridge, how happens it that these, 
and all such as these, have not produced 
the peer — only dim hints — of the Nazarene? 
How then will you account for him ? It is 
a fair question to ask : Whose Son is he ? 

Again, Hozv will you account for the 
Religio7i of fesusf Recall again his en- 
vironment — his dwarfing surroundings of 
rabbinism, traditionalism, trivialities, cant, 
bigotry. Yet, despite that unfortunate 
heredity, that disastrous environment, this 
poor Galilean, this young, unlored, de- 
spised, crucified carpenter founded a reli- 
gion so seminal and prophetic that even 



THE PHILOSOPHICAL PROBLEM. 31 

now, after eighteen hundred years, there 
are many people who call it Utopian — 
a religion supremely fresh, pure, lofty, 
profound, catholic, controling, immortal. 
How will you account for this most re- 
markable moral phenomenon — Christianity ? 
Again I say it is a fair question to ask : 
Whose Son is the founder of Christianity? 

Once more, How will you account for 
the Influence of Jesus f Ponder his bound- 
less personal sway over men. Recall the 
tremendous hold he has had from the be- 
ginning, and never so tremendous as to- 
day, on mankind. Recall the sweeping 
victories of the early Church, in spite of 
imperial persecutions ; the homage implied 
in the initials, B. C. , and A. D. ; the differ- 
ences between Christendom and Pagandom ; 
the wonderful transformations of personal 
character ; the mysterious help that comes 
to his followers in time of trouble ; the 
sense of communion that his people have 
with him ; the readiness with which, were 
it needful, millions would die for him. 



32 THE PROBLEM OF JESUS. 

How then will you account for this in- 
fluence of Jesus — an influence so personal, 
continuous, intense, all-dominating? Again 
I declare it is a fair question to ask: 
Whose Son is he ? 

Here then is our philosophical problem : 
How will you account for this unparalleled 
phenomenon — Jesus Christ ? Once more 
I assert, it is a fair question to ask : 
Whose Son is this Jesus Christ ? We all 
admit that he was David's Son. How is 
it that, as history proves, he is also David's 
Lord and Humanity's L,ord? 

So we pass from the philosophical prob- 
lem to 

Sl]e JJrartkal JJrobkm: tDljat tmll $on iro 
ttritt) lesus of Jfajarctl)? 

It is a Momentous Question. Re- 
call his stupendous claims. He declared 
that he was a teacher sent from God ; he 
taught that he is the sole Deliverer of 
mankind ; he claims to be still alive, and 
from his throne in the heavens demands 



THE PRACTICAL PROBLEM. 33 



earth's allegiance and adoration ; he an- 
nounces that he is to be the final Judge 
of mankind. These are tremendous claims. 
Hence the question, What will you do 
with him? is a tremendous question. If 
he is to be believed, our treatment of him 
is decisive of our own destinies. What 
then will you do with Jesus Christ ? 

Again, It is an Executive Ques- 
tion. It is not a question of theory, but 
a question of practice ; not a question of 
creed, but a question of deed; not a ques- 
tion of words, but a question of works ; 
not a question of church, but a question 
of life. What then will you do with 
Jesus of Nazareth ? 

Again, IT IS A PERSONAL QUESTION. 
Practically speaking, you cannot separate 
Christianity from Christ. If there is any 
Christianity, it is because there is a Christ. 
And this Christ demands a personal corona- 
tion at your hands. Neutrality here is im- 
possible. Neutrality? It is hostility. What 
then will you do with Jesus of Nazareth? 



34 THE PROBLEM OF JESUS. 



Once more, It is a Pressing Ques- 
tion. Recall Pilate's dilemma in his 
own Praetorium : ' ' What then shall I do 
with Jesus, who is called the Christ ? ' ' 
But Pilate was not the only man who 
has been summoned to ask this tre- 
mendous question. There is a sense in 
which it is awfully true that Jesus of Na- 
zareth is still on our hands, still awaiting 
our judgment concerning him. Pilate's 
question is an immortal question, which 
you and I, not less than Pilate himself, 
must answer. Scripture asks the question ; 
so does history ; so does literature ; so does 
art ; so does philosophy ; so does science ; so 
does civilization ; so does conscience ; so 
does providence ; so do I. As in the days 
of his flesh, so now, he can in no wise be 
hid. It is a pressing question ; a question 
which no thoughtful man can blink. 

How long then, O friend, will you halt 
between two opinions in this stupendous 
matter? What will you do now with 
Jesus of Nazareth ? Oh, do not answer as 



THE PRACTICAL PROBLEM. 35 



Pontius Pilate answered ! Be true to your 
nobler instincts. With the Roman cen- 
turion, standing by the cross, exclaim : 



" THIS IS THE SON OF GOD ! " 



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